Floating city: Here are the main features of INS Vikrant

INS Vikrant is an example of the government's thrust to making the defence sector self-reliant. It has made the country part of the select group of nations who can indigenously make aircraft carriers.

PM Modi while commissioning INS Vikrant described the aircraft carrier as a floating airfield and a floating town. The power generated in INS Vikrant can light up 5,000 homes

• It is named after her illustrious predecessor, India's first aircraft carrier, which had played a vital role in the 1971 war. The 262-meter-long carrier has a full displacement of close to 45,000 tonnes which is much larger and more advanced than her predecessor.

• Vikrant carries a mix of about 30 aircraft. It could fly the MiG 29k fighter aircraft in anti-air, anti-surface and land attack roles. It will be able to operate the Kamov 31 which is an early air warning helicopter, the recently inducted but yet-to-be commissioned multi-role helicopter MH-60R, and the indigenous ALH.

• Using a novel aircraft-operation mode known as STOBAR (Short Take-Off but Arrested Landing), the carrier is equipped with a ski- jump for launching aircraft, and a set of 'arrester wires' for their recovery onboard.

• Vikrant consists of 14 decks with 2,300 compartments which can carry around 1,500 sea warriors and to cater to their food requirements.

• The ship is powered by four Gas Turbines totalling 88 MW power and has a maximum speed of 28 knots.

• Overall it cost Rs 20,000 crores to build. The project has been progressed in three phases of the contract between MoD and CSL.

• With an overall indigenous content of 76 per cent, Vikrant has been built with a high degree of automation for machinery operation, ship navigation and survivability, and has been designed to accommodate an assortment of fixed-wing and rotary aircraft.

• The ship has a large number of indigenous equipment and machinery, involving major industrial houses in the country viz. BEL, BHEL, GRSE, Keltron, Kirloskar, Larsen & Toubro, Wartsila India etc. as well as over 100 MSMEs.

• The indigenisation efforts have also led to the development of ancillary industries, besides the generation of employment opportunities, both locally as well as pan-India.